Portland, OR – Health care reform has resulted in some of the largest scale changes to the way health care is delivered and funded since the 1960s, providing unprecedented access, coverage and protections for American consumers. To help people better understand the variety of choices before them, Regence has launched a new website that is designed to help consumers and businesses navigate the new health care landscape.

healthcareandreform.com is designed to help people understand and get prepared today for the 2014 reforms. Features include updates on new decisions from Washington, D.C. and the states Regence serves (Idaho, Oregon, Utah and select counties of Washington), information, tools and resources that cover a wide spectrum of topics related to the law: information about essential health benefits; who is required to have health insurance; important benefits and protections like subsidies for individual insurance and tax credits for businesses.

The information is timely given the level of complexity of the Affordable Care Act (ACA) and new information available for consumers. A survey of more than 1,200 consumers in March 2013 indicates 57 percent of Americans say they still don’t have enough information to understand how reform will affect them.

For the last 95 years Regence has tried to make health care choices as simple as possible and now the company is taking that commitment to the next level. The website is intended to provide a comprehensive resource that breaks down the ACA’s requirements and helps consumers, agents and the community understand what it means to them.

healthcareandreform.com features tools and resources for consumers about how the new law may affect them, including new costs, fees and financial assistance options. Customized landing pages let visitors go directly to local, customized information that is right for them.

The Regence affiliated companies serve more than two million members through Regence BlueShield of Idaho, Regence BlueCross BlueShield of Oregon, Regence BlueCross BlueShield of Utah and Regence BlueShield (selected counties in Washington). Each health plan is a nonprofit independent licensee of the Blue Cross and Blue Shield Association. The Regence affiliated companies are committed to improving the health of its members and communities and to transforming the health care system. For more information, please visit www.regence.com or follow us on Twitter.